On Nov. 7, 2025, the Project LISTOS – Leadership in Science Training and Outdoor Stewardship – cohort set off on a field trip to check out thinning and mastication projects at New Mexico mountain communities in Black Lake and Ocate. Students learned about the pros and cons of heavy machinery versus handwork, depending on forest density and scale of projects, and strategies for biomass removal. Project LISTOS is a USDA-funded joint project between University of New Mexico-Taos and New Mexico Highlands University. The project facilitates the transfer of UNM-Taos students into natural resources degrees at NMHU. The field trip was led by Cimarron Watershed Alliance, a local non-profit working on landscape-level, fuels reduction projects primarily in Colfax County. Among its staff, is a UNM-Taos alum who graduated from NMHU with both her B.S. and M.S. in Forestry, demonstrating pathways into the natural resource workforce. The Conservation Science Center within the New Mexico Forest and Watershed Restoration Insitute serves as Project LISTOS coordinator at NMHU.
